Differences make us better and stronger

Your identity and gender orientation form the basis of your personality. Feeling free to be who you are is the highest form of freedom. Our bank is there for every new beginning and so we strive to create a culture in which everyone can be themselves and feel safe to express their identity or sexual orientation. Both in the bank and in society at large. How do we do this? Read on to find out.

Society is becoming ever more diverse. ABN AMRO wants to reflect our society, which is made up of many different cultures and backgrounds, both as a bank and as an employer. This is because we don’t believe that differences are insurmountable. On the contrary: a melting pot of cultures leads to progress, to a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. Provided everyone can be themselves and enjoy equal opportunities.

Half of our society is female. Which is why we want female customers and colleagues to feel seen, heard and appreciated. Women in vulnerable positions must be able to count on our support. Women who entrust their banking to us must be enthusiastic about our services. And women with ambitions and dreams should get the right opportunities with us. ABN AMRO is fully committed to creating a level playing field. We believe that not only women, but society as a whole will benefit from this.

We’re all familiar with the images we’ve seen in recent years: floods of refugees in search of a new home. Some of them ended up in the Netherlands and were given permission to stay. But settling isn’t the same as being able to work. Unfortunately, a fair chance on the labour market isn’t yet an automatic right for asylum status holders. They may have residential status and talent, but obtaining work is more difficult. The Reboot programme was established to close that gap. From 2019 to 2022, ABN AMRO helped 80 refugees find meaningful work as part of the Reboot programme. Until 2025, we will hire 20 people with a refugee background per year, doing meaningful work at the bank. Work that literally places demands on their skills and abilities.

In the Netherlands, there are approximately 1.2 million people with an occupational disability who would love to work. Unfortunately, few of them are given the chance. The outside world tends to look at their limitations rather than their abilities. ABN AMRO believes that all talented people should be given the chance to develop themselves. To do so, we give people who have occupational disabilities custom opportunities with our B-Able program.

Under 30, your future is ahead of you; over 60, you have a past behind you. If you accept that statement, you’re not benefiting from the potential encapsulated in this difference. After all, a 20-something must learn, and an older person can still learn. They can learn from each other, to begin with. Anyone prepared to accept this more balanced view and not see age as an obstacle will come to regard over-55s not as liabilities but as assets.